SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq  An American gym teacher at a Christian school in the northern Iraqi Kurdish region was killed Thursday when a student in a crowded classroom pulled out a gun, shot the teacher and then as his terrified classmates fled the room, shot himself, officials and eyewitnesses said.

The incident marked a rare violent death of an American in the relatively peaceful Kurdish region, which has been largely immune from the chaotic violence that has defined the rest of Iraq since the U.S. invasion.

The quarrel broke out Thursday morning at the Medes School in Sulaimaniyah between the gym teacher and the student, identified as 18-year old Biyar Sarwar, said city police spokesman Sarkawit Mohammed. During the argument, Mohammed said, Sarwar shot the teacher with a gun he had hidden in his clothes.

Mohammed said Sarwar then shot himself, and died of the wounds later at a nearby hospital. Sulaimaniyah health director Retawit Hama Rashid confirmed Sarwar's death.

Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos in the classroom.

Ahmed Mohammed said he was there when the argument broke out. But he said he ignored it at first because Sarwar was in the back of the room and could barely be heard.

"Then I heard the gunshot," said Ahmed, his face pale as he recounted the argument. "I turned my head and saw the body of the American teacher on the ground with blood near it. All the students started to run out of the room. Seconds later as I was running to the reach the school gate, I heard another gunshot."

The Associated Press is withholding the gym teacher's name pending notification of next of kin.

Sulaimaniyah is located in Iraq's comparatively peaceful Kurdish region, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad. The Kurdish region has generally been free of the bombings and shootings that have plagued the rest of Iraq in recent years. Foreigners, including American citizens, usually travel freely around northern Iraq without the armed guards or armored vehicles often used in the rest of the country.

The attack came at the Medes School, a private, Christian, English language-based academy that covers elementary through secondary grade levels. It runs schools in the three provinces that make up Iraq's northern Kurdish region with a total enrollment of about 2,000 students.

Students described the slain teacher as a devout Christian who frequently praised Christianity and prayed in the classroom. However, Saleh, the city's mayor, said the teacher was not a missionary and cast doubt that the killing was motivated by sectarian issues because Sarwar "had no radical religious tendencies."

"Maybe the student had mental problems," Saleh said.

According to the school's website, American staff often help teach one or two courses each semester. An estimated 95 percent of the students come from Kurdish Muslim families, and the rest are described as either Orthodox or evangelical Christians or from other backgrounds.

Many students are the children of local government officials and community leaders.

Teacher's killing is still a mystery...In Iraqi Kurdistan, teacher's murder devastates studentsMarch 30,`12 (UPI) -- Police say they still don't know why Bayar Sarwar shot and killed his American teacher before turning the gun on himself.

Its been a month since an 18-year-old Iraqi student killed his Christian American teacher at a Christian school in Kurdistan and police say they still dont know what sparked the violence. Bayar Sarwar, an 11th grade student, turned the gun on himself after he shot Jeremiah Small, 33, in the Classical School of Medes in Sulaimani, a city of more than 1 million people in northern Iraq. An investigation is ongoing. Sarwars father told reporters that his son is a relative of prominent Iraqi politicians, including President Jalal Talabani. Sulaimani Mayor Zana Hama said the violence stemmed from a student-teacher conflict. Many residents in the city, which has welcomed Iraqi Christians who have fled targeted killings in Baghdad, say Smalls outspokenness about his Christian faith had nothing to do with the incident.

But others say theyre frustrated with the Christian school, which they say has shifted from focusing primarily on education to converting Muslims to Christianity. Sarwars father, Sarwar Rasheed, said he was told that his son converted to Christianity in the days before the incident. Rasheed has publicly spoken out against the school, which he says is trying to brainwash students. Jeremiah was also brainwashed, Rasheed told a reporter for Rudaw, an English-language news outlet in Iraq. In that interview, Rasheed spoke of his suspicions that Small tried to affect students psychologically to get them to convert to Christianity.

Christians are our brothers but the Christians I have known are very different from those who work at that school, he said. The latter bring danger. They are more dangerous than al-Qaida. Therefore, I warn the parents, if the school system remains as it was, they should not send their kids to that school. Since that interview, Rasheed has declined requests for additional public statements. The Classical School of Medes is run by Servant Group, a Christian organization based in Tennessee. Christian evangelism is a major focus for Servant Group but the school is considered by some city residents to offer a high-quality, progressive curriculum. About 95 percent of the schools students are Muslims, Servant Groups Web site stated. School officials declined to comment.

Former students say the school is academically rigorous. The curriculum is classical, it is highly advanced, said Darya Abdulkarim, a student at American University in Iraq-Sulaimani, and a former student of Classical School of Medes. It helps students become critical thinkers." Small was well-liked by his students. He was the epitome of what a teacher was, Amed Latif, an American University of Iraq-Sulaimani student, said via e-mail. Latif had known Small for five years. Students thought of him as a friend, he said. Smalls faith was a dominant piece of his identity, students said. He taught with his own distinctive style, referring to God and literature as often as he could, Latif said. I cant deny that he was a religious man and he was talking about it, said Rebar R. Ismail, an American University of Iraq-Sulaimani student who met Small in 2006. He was talking about all the religions as part of the class discussions.

i was so shocked to hear this news ! i have American neighbors living in Sulaimaniyah and they love it here , it was just a very rare incident and i am sure it will never happen again , the security guard of the school is under heavy investigation as to how the student managed to sneak in the gun , as its illegal to carry one around .

i was so shocked to hear this news ! i have American neighbors living in Sulaimaniyah and they love it here , it was just a very rare incident and i am sure it will never happen again , the security guard of the school is under heavy investigation as to how the student managed to sneak in the gun , as its illegal to carry one around .

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I believe you, Kurdistan is the safest place in Iraq for the most part.

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